Lights Shine Brighter in the Dark
by StrydeVex
Summary: AU where Percy hasn't found he is a demigod yet, and is chased into camp while trying to survive poison. Percico story, potentially up for adoption (depending on which of the two stories is preferred)


**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Heroes of Olympus**

**Hello everyone, I'd like to ask your help on this. I have this first chapter, and another that's extremely similar. If you would read both of them by looking at my stories and let me know which you prefer, it would be greatly appreciated so I could put the other up for adoption by someone else, if they want it. I hope you enjoy!**

**Percy's POV**

I'd finally found my limit. After two wars, and managing to survive both of them, I'd finally found my breaking point.

Ever since the war ended, there have been groups of monsters roaming on their own, and the demigods have been doing everything we can to get rid of these groups. We haven't had any fatalities from these small attacks yet, but it looked like I would be the first.

I stumbled out of the woods toward the hill I'd first climbed when I was twelve, in much the same situation. A lot of danger. I'd gone out on my own to deal with a group of monsters that was near camp, and it wouldn't have been an issue, if the Chimera wasn't there.

The fight had gone well, except the Chimera had been hiding while I fought the others, and had struck me with poison from behind. I managed to kill it, but I could feel the poison burning me from the inside, eating at my veins and working its way to my heart.

I stumbled up the hill, collapsing to my knees every few steps, but getting back up. I could feel the blood running out of my leg, and the burn of the poison in the wound. I looked at it once, only once, to see it was a bleeding smoking mess. I couldn't think about it, or I would get weak in the knees. Despite the brave face I always put on in these situations, I was scared. I didn't want to die, I wasn't ready for it.

I focused on walking. One foot, then the next. I made it to the top, and leaned against Thalia's tree.

"Help!"

I yelled as loudly as I could, which wasn't very loud, but there was no one to hear. The cabin leaders were in a meeting, discussing how to take care of the group that I'd gone against everyone to get rid of before they could hurt anyone.

Everyone else was at dinner, and none of them would hear me to come help. I stumbled forward for a few more steps before my knees gave out and I fell to the ground. I turned my head toward the camp, black edging into my vision faster than I would have liked, and what I could see was blurry.

The last thing I saw was the blurry image of a person, ringed in black even the black wasn't there yet, running up the hill to me. Before I blacked out, I managed one more quiet word.

"Help…"

**Nico's POV**

Ever since the war, people have been trying to be more kind to me, Will especially managed to make me somewhat less of an outcast. When people saw a son of Apollo being friends with a child of the Underworld, they got the idea that maybe I'm not that bad. But that doesn't mean I'm embraced by the camp.

I sat on the outskirts of the pavilion, watching people talk, laugh, have fun. They all seemed to enjoy themselves, but I wasn't involved in any of that. It would be nice to have a sibling, someone to talk to. Hazel was nice, but she usually stayed in New Rome with Frank, and there were no others, Hades or Pluto.

I looked around the pavilion again, looking to where the missing people usually sat. The cabin leaders were having a meeting, and they were trying to figure out the best course of action. It was fairly routine, except Chiron had called the meeting to tell them that the Chimera had been seen, so the group would be more dangerous than any others we fought yet.

I looked at the empty Poseidon table, where Percy usually sat alone. At least he somewhat understood the feeling of being alone, since he always sat alone at his table. Sure, he had friends, but being the leader the camp forced him to be, he had very few really close friends. Besides, especially lately, Annabeth hadn't been spending as much time with him as she used to, she was always busy, and when they were together, they would get in fights sometimes. The latest of them was about the group of monsters that they were discussing right now in the Big House.

I decided I was done watching people. It was the same every meal, and there wasn't much of a point to sitting alone and waiting. I walked out of the pavilion into the open air. I looked around the camp. I could hear yelling from the Big House, but I couldn't tell who it was, or what they were yelling about.

I walked across the camp on my own. Maybe it would be better if I went back to the Underworld. Even though Will had said people would want me around, they didn't really. Most people still avoided me, and I didn't contribute much to the camp anyway. I didn't really have anything to keep me here at camp.

As I was walking, I felt a familiar presence.

Death.

I turned toward Half Blood Hill and looked up at Thalia's tree, just early enough to see Percy collapsing to the ground by the tree.

I stood for a few seconds, trying to make sure I was actually seeing this. Wasn't Percy supposed to be at the Big House? Why was he on hill, and what was happening?

I snapped out of my thoughts, and ran to the hill where Percy was laying. I could feel a sense of panic overtaking me, and I could feel dark energy radiating off of me as I ran. He turned his head to look toward the camp, then stopped moving. I kept running and I could feel the presence of death growing stronger. I ran harder, up the hill as fast as I could. The presence of death was there, but Percy wasn't dead yet.

I made it to the top of the hill and dropped to my knees beside Percy. His left leg was bleeding really badly, and it was smoking, probably from poison. I pulled a knife from its sheath and cut away the torn shreds of his pant leg, then examined the wound.

It was bad, and he was dying. I needed to get him to the infirmary, and I didn't have time to wait for anyone. I gently pulled him to Thalia's tree, into its shadow. I wrapped my arms around his unconscious frame and felt the rush of cold and tingling as we dissolved into the shadows.

We materialized on the floor of the infirmary, alone, and I quickly lifted Percy onto a bed. I searched through cabinets and drawers for any supplies I would need. I found some nectar and ambrosia, bandages, and disinfectant. I quickly got some cloth and wiped off the wound. I took some of the nectar, and broke a few pieces of ambrosia off, then fed them both to him slowly. The color returned to his face, or at least more than there was before, and his breathing steadied just a little. I bandaged the wound tightly after washing it with disinfectant and nectar. The poison seemed to evaporate when touched by the godly drink, and inflammation in his leg went away.

After tightly wrapping the wound on his leg, the bleeding seemed to have nearly stopped. His breathing was steady now, and his color was closer to normal. The presence of death had faded, and Percy was safe.

I took a deep breath and tried to steady my hands. My nerves were showing through now that the crisis was over, and my breathing was picking up. I rested my head on my arms on the bed beside Percy, as he slept, trying to calm down. Percy had nearly died, he'd been within minutes from the poison. He was so close.

I heard laughing and talking coming into the infirmary, then the door opened and it stopped. I turned toward the three children of Apollo who were staring in shock at Percy and me.

"You're a little late."

**I hope you enjoyed, and again, let me know which of the two you prefer! (The other story is named Lights Are Brighter In Darkness)**


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